Portugal has lost about 87% of its commons since the 1800s, campaigners say

Portugal had more than four million hectares of communal land (baldios) in 1875, according to a historical study published by the FAO. Today the figure is around 500,000 hectares, about 5.4% of mainland territory. The Rights for Nature citizens' initiative, which began collecting signatures on 13 October, cites the drop while warning that the percentage is indicative rather than a cadastral measurement. Liberal-era privatisation and later state afforestation curbed community control. Some 1,300 baldios remain. The campaign wants rights-of-nature recognition to give community-managed land a formal ecological voice in forestry, tourism and infrastructure decisions, which would require new legal instruments.